A comes before B
by Thief In The Abyss
Summary: One-shot OcxBoris, Alice was confused, about herself and her feelings, before she can get anything done, she has to put herself in order, for his sake.


It was a warm day in Wonderland. The seasons started to change though, the only one that seemed neutral was the Joker territory. Alice was bored out of her mind. She wondered around the clover tower looking for something to do then she decided to mess with her brother, hopefully the clockmaker would know where he is.

"Julius!" she yelled while running down the stairs.

When she turned a corner, she ran into a firm chest. Before she could fall, a pair of arms wrapped around her. "I'm sorry!" she yipped as her lime green eyes met a pair of golden ones. "You should be careful around corners Alice," sighed the man. "Oh it's only you Gray, sorry bout that," she apologized.

"Why in such a hurry?" he asked. "I'm just bored and have nothing else to do so I decided to mess with Julius," she answers.

Alice then realizes that he was still holding her. "Uh, Gray? I think I'm done falling so uh yup," she stuttered pushing away from him. "Right, sorry," he bowed, "you haven't seen Nightmare have you?" Alice shook her head, "No, I haven't he's probably hiding under a pile of covers," she assumed. "Must be."

Alice strode inside the clockmaker's office. "What is it Alice?" he responded without looking up from the clock he was working on. "You know me so well~" she cooed, "but actually, I wanted to know where Clark was."

"He went to the Hatter's territory with those twins," he answered. Alice sighed, after what happened at the Hatter's; she didn't even want to think about the Mafioso. "Just great," she mumbled.

Alice seated herself next to the man, there was a long silence between the two, which is until Julius placed his tools down and stared at her. "What is the matter?" he asked. Alice sighed and said, "Just bored is all."

"Then do something," he sighed. "I'm going to the amusement park today," she piped up. "Then go." Alice looked at the man before her, "Do I annoy you?" she asked out of the blue.

Julius stared at her in surprise, which was rare for him. But he saw that she was dead serious. "Do I annoy you?" she repeated. "Of course not, you can be loud, but annoying isn't you," he replied before getting his act together. Alice started to tear up in her eyes. "Julius!" she squeaked before glomping the man. They both fell to the floor.

"A-Alice, control yourself," he sputtered from her tight hug. Alice released him but didn't get off him. Instead she started to mess with his bangs. "Ha-ha, you're blushing Julius!" she teased. He became scarlet until someone came in. "Hey Julius! Where are you?" said a voice.

Alice pushed herself up, but still lay on top of him. "He's over here Nightmare!" she called out. The silver haired man turned his attention behind the desk. "Oh! What happened over here?" he asked walking towards them. "Nothing, just Julius being considerate and nice," she giggled which made him blush more. Alice got from on top of him and dusted herself off.

Julius got up from the floor. Which made Nightmare smirked, "Sure looked like something more," he teased. "Shut up you damn incubus," he retorted while seating himself at the chair. "Little touchy aren't you?"

"Now that you mention it, Gray was looking for you," said Alice. Nightmare immediately ceased his teasing, "I told him you were probably under some covers." He sighed of relief after the cover up. "THANK YOU!" he said happily closing her in a hug. Alice blinked in confusion from his actions, "Just to let you know, I would be mean and tell him that you were slacking off by teasing Julius, but I'm in too high of hopes today so I won't!" she giggled. "Alice! You're so mean!" he wailed. "I said I wasn't going to do it, but because of that I'll tell him where you are!" Alice cupped her mouth, "Hey Gray! I found him!"

The incubus immediately sped out the room. Then Gray came in, "Where?" he asked. Alice pointed to the opposite hall of him. "NIGHTMARE COME AND DO YOUR PAPERWORK!" he yelled. "NEVER!"

"I'm off Julius!" she announced. "Bring back some coffee on your way back," he called after her. Alice sped walked out of the territory, snow and she never seemed to get along that well. She cupped her gloved hands and blew hot air to them, "This is some weather," she mumbled.

When she finally made it out of the cold, she immediately uncovered herself from the weight of coats and mittens. Under the entire bundle she wore a pink spaghetti strap shirt under a white jacket that had a single light blue stripe streaking through with a pink one, along with a light blue skirt and some black leggings and a pair of white flats. Alice put the heavy load of coats in a hole in a tree and made her way to the amusement park.

"Alice!" greeted a guy with pink hair and a pair of cat ears. "Hey Boris!" she greeted. They did their usual fist bump. "So what's this new ride you've been talking about?" she asked. "The old man just got done running tests on it to see if it's stable, so far it's safe and everyone has been riding it," he said. "Nice, let's go then!" she cheered while grabbing his hand. Boris looked at their hands and blushed, "H-H-Hey! Do you even know where it is?" he asked trying to hide his blush. Alice stopped abruptly, "I have no idea! You lead then!" she had a grin that was similar to Ace's when he was lost.

After riding all the best rides, they decided to take a break. Boris strode over to a tired looking Alice on the bench. "Want some ice cream?" he asked. Alice lifted her head up and nodded, "YES! Ice cream sounds so good right now!" Boris laughed at her then went to the vendor.

'She's so funny, much different from the other girls,' Boris thought while waiting in line, 'loud, funny, and energetic, almost like me.' They've been hanging out a lot lately, almost every day. They talk about everything, and would talk about it for hours. They could've been deemed a couple. Could have. He figured if he said he liked her, she wouldn't return his feelings and it would ruin what they had. He didn't want to risk it. "Next!" said a faceless worker. In his thoughts Boris must've been holding up the line.

Alice was still laid on the bench curled up in a ball. "So HOT!" she whined. She started to attract unwanted attention. "Hey, you see that girl over there," said one faceless guy. "Yeah, a real cutie that one is," said another. "Go get her." Alice sat up and took her jacket off and wrapped it around her waist. "Boris! Ice cream emergency!" she wailed. Alice sighed and laid back down on the bench, that is until someone walked up to her. "Uh excuse me miss, but would you like a soda instead?" he offered. Alice lazily sat up and looked at him then at the cup he held out. She snatched it out his hand and looked at it questionably. She then took a sip. "Tastes fine enough, hopefully not tampered with," she noted. "Are you new around here?" he asked taking a seat next to her. "Well, I am but I'm not, it's a tough situation actually," she explained taking another sip. "So tell me about yourself," he said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself instead?"Alice started to toy with him.

Boris finally got the ice cream, for some reason it was the rage for today. He began walking back to the bench. 'I wonder how she will react when I finally give her the ice cream,' he asked himself. When he finally made it to the bench he nearly dropped the dairy treats.

Alice kept inching away from the man before her, but continued to sip the drink that was given to her. The man just kept scooting closer to her, almost to the edge of the bench. Alice finally took noticed to the punk teen before them. Alice sat the drink down and lifted both her arms up, "Boris!" she still had that cheeky grin on her face. "Is this your boyfriend?" he asked taking a glance toward him. The redhead jumped up from the bench and latched on to Boris who was confused. "Yup! We are actually just on a date, thanks for the soda," she giggled. "What's going on here?" whispered Boris. "Just go with it," she replied.

Alice waved good bye to the faceless on the bench. "What was that all about?" asked Boris. "Don't worry about it, he was trying to hit on me but I gave him all the stops and I even got a drink as a prize!" she laughed, "You have ice cream right?" Boris remembered the ice cream he was holding, slightly melted but still edible, "Here's yours," he handed her a slightly melted strawberry swirl. Alice gladly took it, "Who told you that I liked strawberry?" she asked while licking the treat. "Eh, I had a hunch," he said as he ate his chocolate ice cream. "Your hunches can be right about one or two things," she said.

The two continued to walk, and soon they were sitting on a bench in front of the merry-go-round. It started to grow dark. Alice was sitting close to Boris and had her head on his shoulder, "Today was fun, creepy but fun," she sighed. "How was it creepy?" asked the punk teen.

"Well, you leave me alone for two minutes and some human trafficker tries to hit on me, if that's not creepy then I don't know what is," she laughed a little. Boris laughed a bit at her comment. "Boris? Have you noticed it's been a little quiet? I wonder what Gowland been up to all day," she sighed.

"Hey Alice?"

"Yes?"

"We talk about everything, right?"

"That we do."

"We talk about everything but us," Boris mumbled. Alice's eyes grew wide but slowly closed, "I've noticed it too, what exactly do you mean by 'us' huh?" she sighed. "Just us period, we hang out a lot, we know each other well, we're almost inseparable like the twins."

Alice pulled her head from his shoulder and got up. She spun around and kneeled down in front of him looking at him directly in the eyes. "That's true too, but what exactly do you really want to talk about Boris?" she demanded. "I love you Alice, not because you're a foreigner, but for who you really are," Boris confessed.

She looked at him blankly and sighed, "Boris I know what you say is true but I can't return those feelings, I like you a lot, really I do it's just that it's not that way."

Boris, heart broken (well clock broken) hid behind his bangs. Alice gently pulled his hair from his face with a sad smile on her face and rested her hand on his check, gently stroking it with her thumb. Boris' hand slid up over hers, sadness taking over his eyes. Alice put her other hand on his bare cheek and pulled his face close to where their foreheads were touching.

"Boris you are one amazing, phenomenal, unique cat with jokes that crack me up, but I only want to stay friends with you," she said with an assuring smile. His breathing grew lighter before he actually did it.

He slammed his lips into hers.

Alice was shocked but should have seen it coming; they were that close to each other. Alice felt all his emotions come spilling out of him through the heated kiss. But strangely after she turned him down, she started to kiss him back. After they pulled apart for air, Alice then realized what she did.

She quickly covered her mouth, looking shocked from what she did. Boris however regretted nothing. He leaned towards her again but she pulled away and mumbled a "sorry" before dashing away from him. She heard him shout her name but she kept running, making sure she was far away as possible.

Alice ran back to the tower, completely forgetting the coffee she was supposed to pick. She ran through the snow not wanting to stop until she was in her room. The red head didn't even stop to pick up her coats and mittens. She had one thing she was determined to do, and that was go to her room and shut herself out from the rest of the world.

She pushed the door open causing it to slam. Julius seemed to be talking to Nightmare before the noise turned his attention towards the door. The two both looked at Alice. She was breathing heavily as if she ran for miles on end, wearing light clothes that weren't right for their time of season, her whole face was red and she was on the verge of bursting into tears. "Alice what's wrong?" Julius asked feeling concerned.

"Sorry, I didn't bring the coffee, I was sorta in a rush," she laughed trying not to show her emotions. When Nightmare tried reading her mind Alice shot him a glare as she thought of needles and hospitals and other things. He quickly grabbed his hair as if trying to pull it, "Darn it Alice! You know I hate hospitals!" he screeched.

"I'm going to my room, no visitors please," Alice said as she raced towards the winding stairs. When she reached her room, she slammed the door shut locking it and kicked off her shoes and scrambled for the covers. She ducked her head under the pillow.

'_**What the hell did I just do? Right after I turned him down, I kissed him! This labels me as a... No way! Blood and Black aren't right about me!'**_ She thought.

'_**I'd be damned until they are right about me, but Boris knew what he was doing, and I did set myself up for that too, ugh this is so confusing!'**_

'_**It's both of our faults, I denied my own feelings, and he was simply trying to bring them out, but I pushed him out…. So it is my fault.'**_

Alice shifted positions, close to falling asleep. _**'I know what I should do now; hopefully I didn't do too much damage.'**_ She then drifted off to sleep.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" asked Nightmare. Alice opened her eyes to see the incubus standing in the air with his hands in his pockets. Alice shrugged her shoulders, "Nothing's wrong, I thought I told you that already," she said.

"Didn't seem like nothing, especially about what you did to me," he pouted. "Are you still mad about that, I'm sorry, I just had a rough day," she apologized. "I only caught a glimpse of what you thought, something about Boris," Nightmare noted as he stepped down and walked towards her.

"Everything's fine, I got things sorted out with him so I'm going to be at the Amusement Park tomorrow," she said, "Oh and I'll get the coffee on my way out too."

"You know Ace came over, he was close to barging into your room if it wasn't for Gray, you know how those two act," he chuckled. Alice laughed a little, "Ace does have a problem with knocking, I always tell him to knock but he thinks he has permission to barge in."

Nightmare smiled at her. "I'm glad," he said. Alice looked at him curiously, "What do you mean?" she asked. "When you came charging through the door, you looked a mess almost on the verge of tears," he explained. "Everyone was worried about you, even Julius but he never showed it." Alice laughed, "Of course, Julius tries his best to be anti-social."

"But it doesn't matter because I'm fine now, so stop worrying," she smiled, "by the way has Clark came back yet?" Nightmare nodded, "yeah, he's been here for a minute, he's been trying to get into your room, picking the lock and busting the door knob." Alice shook her head, "That's exactly like him, I'm sorry if he messed up the knob."

"No problem at all, he just threw a fuss when he failed," he laughed. "Yeah I kinda got him like- like- ACHOO!" Alice sneezed in mid sentence.

She wiped her nose, "I hope I'm not sick already, ugh this is my fault now I'm paying for it."

"Well when you came in you were wearing light clothes and your face was red," he mentioned. "Yeah I know, I might be waking up soon, because I have a nasty cough coming and I can feel it," she sighed, "With you, my dreams never last long enough, I still don't know why though."

Just then the world was fading away along with Nightmare, "See ya," she waved. He smiled and waved back.

Alice woke up coughing and breathing heavily, "Great I'm sick," she said in between breaths. Alice forced herself up and walked over to her dresser. She opened the drawer and pulled out a pair of Julius' pajamas. She slipped them on and went to the bathroom and put on her bathrobe.

She pulled on the strap fastening it. When she got done she opened the door and walked out. Alice turned around to see the damage Clark did. The door itself looked like its only support were the hinges, there were multiple scratches looking as though it belonged to a tiger and soot marks around the knob. "Jeez Clark, didn't have to go extreme," Alice sighed and walked down the stairs.

"Alice! Why the heck was your door locked?" yelled the small red headed boy. "One, stop yelling because you're giving me a head ache, and two you shouldn't try and destroy _my_ door just so you can come in smartness," Alice sighed.

"Are you okay Alice?" Gray asked. "I'm just a little under the weather, but I'm fine," Alice said as she plopped down on the floor in front of the fireplace right beside Nightmare. "I knew I should've stopped and get my coat, guess my mind wasn't really there," Alice said aloud, "Hey Clark, you wanna be sick like your big sister?" Clark popped his head over the couch like a weasel. "Heck no! I don't want to be sick just because you were stupid and forgot your only thing of protection from the cold!" he yelled back.

"If I'm stupid then you're the big sibling," she said. He stared at her, "Touché," he said.

The next day Alice was getting slightly better but still had a nasty cough. Gray went to recover her coats from her hiding place. "They were hard to find actually," Gray noted. "Yeah, that was the point, so nobody would steal them and leave me coatless," she laughed nervously. "Hey Nightmare! Did you hear the news?" she yelled. "What news?" he asked. "Since we're both sick, we can both go to the hospital!" she sang. His face paled even more. "I AM NOT GOING TO THE HOSPITAL!" he yelled. "You are if I'm going with you!" Alice laughed.

"Hey Julius, do you still need that coffee?" Alice asked. The clockmaker looked up from his work. "Yes, but Gray can go get it," he replied. "No way! Gray is already doing so much for us, I don't want to bother him," Alice said as she put her coat on, "I'll get it, if I don't come back until the next night then I'm at the castle probably helping Ace." She said her goodbye and left the tower heading to the plaza.

_Ding! Ding!_ Alice entered the shop and was greeted by the cashier, "Let me know if you need help with anything!" he sang. Alice simply nodded and went to the nearest aisle. _**'Where are you coffee?'**_ she thought. She then spotted the regular brand they always get, she reached up and grabbed. The girl went to the cashier and paid for it. Alice left the store and headed back to the tower, but something else crossed her mind, then Ace popped up in his usual bloody cloak and mask.

"Hey Alice! I thought you were sick?" he asked. "I am, I'm just getting coffee for everybody 'cause Gray was busy and I didn't want to put anymore tasks on him," Alice said. "Aw, well isn't that nice of you! Well since you're being nice to people do you think you can tell me where the tower is?" he laughed. "I knew you would get lost, just keep going straight then you'll be at the front door, while you're at it can you drop this off for me?" she tossed him the coffee. He caught it and looked at it, "Weren't you just heading to the tower now?" he asked. "Yeah, but something came up, so I'm passing it to you, remember to keep going straight!" she said as she went to the opposite direction.

Ace looked at the can then shrugged his shoulders, but veered to the left.

Alice jogged her way to the amusement park. She removed her coat and tucked it under her arm. Revealing a magenta tank top with a black knit jacket with black skinny jeans, "Here I come Amusement Park!" she cheered.

When she went passed the gates and searched for the punk cat. Instead she saw people running and screaming, "What the-," she was cut off when a stray bullet came straight her way. She dodged the bullet and turned her sight to in front of her. Gowland shooting his shot gun and Blood still taunting him. Elliot shooting bullets at Gowland and faceless shooting the amusement park faceless. Boris and the twins looking at the scuffle with bored expression.

Alice sighed and walked through the fight and straight to the amusement park owner. "DIE DUPRE!" he yelled. Alice strolled over to him and elbowed his ribcage and took his gun and shot at Elliot's feet causing him to cease his fire. "Gowland! What did I just say about this! Its bad publicity to have a gunfight in the middle of the park!" she yelled. "But Alice—," Gowland was cut off when Alice pointed the gun at his throat, "What was that?" she asked innocently. "N-N-Nothing!" he put his hand sup in defense. "Same goes for you all! If you're in the mafia then have a low profile not go attracting all this attention!" she yelled.

She started coughing again, "A-A-Alice are you okay?" Elliot asked nervously. "Tickle in my throat, I can't yell like usual, otherwise I would be much louder," she wheezed. After her coughing fit they all settled down. "Okay, now can you all play nice for the day?" she asked sweetly but with a dark smile on her lips. "Yes, ya know for a little lady, you sure can handle situations," Gowland laughed. She simply smiled and walked toward Boris and the twins.

Alice smiled meekly, "Hey guys," she waved. "Hey," he mumbled. "Hi lady!" greeted the twins. "Um, can you guys give us a minute please?" she asked the twins. They looked at her then at Boris then back at her and nodded and went over to the others.

"Boris I-," she was cut off. "Are you going to run away again?" he said. Alice sighed, "No I'm not, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I acted and for what I did," Alice replied, "so I'm sorry." Boris stared at her. "I'm sorry too, I just imposed my feelings on you too bluntly," he sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well to tell the truth, I liked the kiss," she mumbled and started blushing, "and I like you too."

Boris stared at her in utter shock, "You do?" he asked. Alice nodded her head. "I just have a hard time expressing my feelings and all," she laughed. "DAMMIT DUPRE! YOU DIE TODAY!" the two looked at the other group and saw how the gun fight started up again Alice started to walk off, "Just great now I have to regulate again," she sighed. But she was spun around by Boris, "It's best to let him blow off some steam," he grinned. Alice simply smiled and stood next to him. Boris held her hand and entwined their fingers together.

**I actually had this for a while and gave up on it. But I went through my documents and decided to finish it up**

**Who doesn't like a one-shot with Boris in it! I mean come on *holds up a picture* He's adorable! ~**

**I wanted a one-shot with my occ Alice, they are not the same as I said in the summary, this one is a badass with feelings!**

**And her brother is just a plain badass…**

**You all know what to do, please review!**

**(Omg it rhymed! :D) **


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